Watermelon Salsa In A Watermelon Bowl Puts the Jarred Stuff To Shame

When it comes to party apps, this salsa wins on every front: First, presentation. It's served in a baby watermelon. Repeat: A baby watermelon. The only thing more impressive than that is if you carve it into a shark, pig, swan or your guest of honor's face. Second, flavor. It's tangy, sweet, spicy and salty, all at once, and none of those flavors overwhelms the others.

Third, it's unexpected. Every party has chips and salsa. Snore. This is a whole new kind of red salsa—one that doesn't require you to chop a single tomato. People may be standoffish at first, unsure of whether watermelon belongs in such a dish, but force-feed them (okay, fine, just encourage them to take) a bite. Their minds will change before they can grab a second chip.

Chelsea Lupkin

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This recipe only requires you to use half of a three to four-pound watermelon. The other half you can slice and serve as-is, giving guests the best of both worlds.

Chelsea Lupkin

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When you make the watermelon bowl, first cut the watermelon in half lengthwise, creating a wider, shallower bowl. (The other way may look more like a traditional soup bowl, but when you get close to the end of the salsa, people will start scraping their fingers against the edges of the rind, getting their hands all sticky. Nobody wants that.) It's also crucial to shave off a little bit of the rind on the curved side of the watermelon, so it can sit flat against the table without rolling around.

Chelsea Lupkin

As for the salsa itself, consider our measurements more like guidelines. Adjust it to your taste and make it your own. You've got this.